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No subways for disabled people in New Delhi - Volume 3 Issue 9: Disability News and Information Service for India

No subways for disabled people in New Delhi

DNIS News Network - Lack of funds, sensitivity and awareness
in planning and architecture, have barred disabled people and the elderly population
of the city from using subways, pushing them out on the roads to fend for themselves.

While the Capital is turning to new options to make the city disabled friendly,
one sector which still needs a lot of attention is subways. Most of the subways
in the city do not have ramps and are inadequately lit making it impossible
for orthopaedically and visually disabled people to access them. The result:
these disabled people are forced to brave oncoming traffic and speeding buses
while crossing any major intersection.

While city planners seem to have lacked sensitivity and awareness, hospital
authorities are not far behind. The prestigious All India Institute of Medical
Sciences (AIIMS) has a subway with a ramp and two public toilets flanking the
entrance as well as the exit! No patient is willing to jeopardise his/her health
further by inhaling the stench of urine just to get through a subway.

Right across the road from AIIMS is the Safdarjung Hospital. Here, the subway
has a ramp, which is completely useless. Not only is it narrow and steep, half
way through it is barred off with iron gates. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital does
not have proper lighting in its subways, making it impossible to make your way
through even in broad daylight.

Subways in other commercial areas like Dilli Haat, Connaught Place and Defence
Colony are also completely inaccessible to disabled people. The subway at ITO
has a ramp at the entrance and steps at the exit!

While hospital authorities blame the NDMC for the irregularities, NDMC officials
state that the subways were built much before any building laws for the disabled
were in place. “We cannot redesign the subways, as it would be very costly,”
said an official.